Embossing machine



FRIED EMBOSSING MACHINE Filed June 27, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet l P v JESA555 2 g 123 451:: 12:1 f'sfli l'iiu JOHN 005M \4 s AC ON 275 255Inventor LYLE. W. SFJFFHED A ril 17, 1962 w. SEIFRIED 3,029,920

EMBOSSING MACHINE Filed June 27. 1960 e SheetsSheet 2 LYLE W. SEIFRIEDApril 17, 1962 L. w. SEIFRIED EMBOSSING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FiledJune 27, 1960 April 17, 1962 Filed June 27, 1960 L. w. SEIFRIED3,029,920

EMBOSSING MACHINE e sheets-sheet 4 Inventor LYLE. W. SEJFFHED April 17,1962 1.. w. SEIFRIED EMBOSSING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 2'7,1960 zimomim IIII w n n5 m\\ Du I n n CJ U DO INVENTOR. LYLE W. SEW-REDUnited States Patent Ofiice 3,029,920 Patented Apr. 17,1962

3,029,924) EMBGSSING 'MA'CHENE v Lyle W. Seifried Mentor, Ohio,assignor-to fiddressograph-Multigraph-Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio,acorporation of Delaware Filed June27,;1-960, Ser. No: 38,801 llvClaims.(Cl. 197-65) This invention relates to embossing machines of' the kindused to" produce embossures on relatively small plates that areto beused for imprinting'purposes'.

Repetitive printing'of'fixedand determinedidatais' advantageously;etiected, and accurate and permanent recordkeeping' greatlyfacilitated-by having reso'rt'to relatively small printing, platesbearingthe' fixed da'tain the form of embossed type characters. Such"plates can be fed quite rapidly through printing machines of the kindwhich automatically produce corresponding imprints on record sheets,envelopes and the like; Printingplates o-f lthis nature can also be usedinhand operated printing'machines that are primarily used in connectionwith department store and oil service station credit transactions. Inmost instances, each plate bears a name and address which is to beimprinted. Additionally, each plate will usually bear' accountingdataisuch as a policy o'r'social security number, customer designationand'soon to be imprinted. Printing plates of this kind can also be usedfor tax accounting, inventory control, routing of parts in assemblyfactories and soon.

In order to facilitate the sorting and collation of business forms andthe like, it has been proposed 'thatsuch repetitive-printingtransactionsbe assigned codes and that such codes be related to stylized numericalcharacters that are easily'scanned by photoelectric cells or otherresponsive scanning matrices.

Thus, accurate-scanning is assured by stylizing the numerical charactersto obviate the possibility of one numeral being confused with another inthe scanning apparatus. At the" same'time, each numeral is assigned acode'based on a five bit code'aswill hereinafter be described, and thiscode; can beimprinted on the 'busin'ess'fo-rm by magnetic ink sothat'the imprinted code can besensed or scanned by magneticallyresponsive devices.

Pr'inting, plates hearing such stylized numerals and coderepresentations are produced," under the' present inven tion; in anembossing machine. These data are to appear at certain assigned line'positions on'the resultant'embossed-printing plates apart from where areto appear alphabeticaldata'and standard numeralsthat are merely tobe'used for-imprinting intelligent data requiring no scanning.Accordingly; the primary object of the present invention is-to'soconstruct an embossing machine as to enable stylized-numericalcharacters and code representationsthereof to be embossed on a platethat is to be used as a'printing plate in accordance with what has beendescribed above, and to so construct the embossing ma- .chine as -toassurethat when-stylized numera-lsand code representations thereof arebeingembossed, the chance of error is reduced.

Another object ofthepresent invention is'to so constructanembossin'gmachine as'to assure that when the plate'being'embossed'is in a linelocation other than Where the stylized'numericalcharacters and coderepresentations are to appear, the punch and die sets allocated to thesedata willbe prevented from effective operation. Another objectof thepresent invention'is'to enable the foregoing objects tobe achieved asacombinatio'n in an embbssingmachine that requires relatively fewoperative partsto effect'the cornbinedresults, and to do'this in aneflicient and inexpensive manner.

Specifically, anobject of'the present invention is to effect embossuresbyhaving resort toane'rrrbossiiig machine of the kind which'includesa'rotatable'purrch and die head under control of a shift mechanismadaptedto index or shift the head'frorn one punch-anddi'eposition to thenext, just prior to effecting the "selected' embossure. Thestylized'numeral andcode punch anddie slugs as a group. are assignedtoone of'theshift or non-shift positions in the head, and certain of" theremaining alphabettype punch and die elements a're'assigned to the otherpositions. Each stylized number and the. asso'ci'atedcod'e areso'related as to be embossed simultaneously For reasons to be'explainedhereinafter, the shift mechanism is to be in'an inoperative statewhen'the'carriage, which holds the plate being embossed, is ina'certain'lineposition', and the shift mechanism is then to be placedin'a'n operative state when'the carriage 'is 'in'anotherlineposition. Inother Words, the position ofthe'carriage; from a line basis, is tocontrol the operative 'orinoperative'state of the shift mechanism.Specifically, this is' accomplished by holding continuously inefiectivethelock' fortheshift mechanism whenthe carriage is in a firstiposition,and conditioning this lock for eifectiveoperation when the carriage isina secon'd'position; Additionally; when the carriage presents the platefor theembossing of normal alphabet and numeral characters, the punchesand dies assigned'to the embossing'of'stylizednumerals and'associatedcode representations are tobe rendered in'efiective. Thesespecific'features represent specific o'bjects'of the present invention.

Other and further objects of the'presentinv'ention' will be apparentfrom the following" description and"claims and are illustrated'in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a'preferredembodiment of the present'invention and the principles thereof 'and whatis now considered to bathe: best mode'contemplatedffor applying theseprinciples. Other'e'mbo'diments of the invention embodying'the sameor"equivalentprinciples may be usedand structural changes may 'bemadeas'desired by those slc'illedinlthe art'without departing from the presentinvention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings: 7

FIG. l'is aperspectiveview of an embossing'machin'fe embodying thefeatures of the present invention;'

FIG. 2 is a'plan view of a printing plate" enrb'o'ss'ed'in accordancewith the present'invention; I 7

FIGS. 3A and 3B are fragmentary viewsbh'anenlarged scale of punch anddie slugs used'ffoi""codeem-' bossing under'and in' accordance withth'epresenti-nven-s tion;

FIGS. 4 and 5' are views illustrating'plansrespectively for the stopring and punch anddite head ofth'emachine;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of "the' punch 'head'j' I FIG. 7 isa'fragmentary's'ectional view substantially on the line 77 of'FIG. 8; n

FIG. 8 is a sectional view through the punch" and 'die head;

FIG. 9 isan elevation, partly in section; sh'owi'ngthe relationshipofcertain solenoids;

FIG. 10 is afragmentary' elevation showin'gthe relationship of another'solenoid in the machine';'

FIG. 11 is'acornpound'vi'ew, somewhat schematic; illustrating therelationship between line "positions" ofthb carriage and embossed linepositions" on the embossed item;

FIG. 12 is 'asection'al viewillustratingl'further carriage aspects; and

FIG. 13 is a wiring diagram;

In FIG; 1 of the drawings there are illustrated 'anenlbossing machine 20that is-adapted toemboss'a plateas,

P, FIG." 2, of plastic" or other easily"deforrnablem'aterial so as'toform raised, direct reading typ'e characters thereon inclusive ofordinary alphabetical characters AC and numerals ON delineating a name,address or the like, and additionally stylized, easily scannable,oversized numerical type characters NC and code representations CRthereof. The stylized numerals and codes are to be in the first lineposition on the plate, and the alphabet characters in any subsequentline position, but this obviously can be varied.

A plate as P can be of a size to be conveniently carried in a wallet,and the plate P is particularly adapted to be used in imprintingapparatus such as hand-operated printing machines and the like toimprint forms not only with a name, address or like alphabetical data,but also with stylized or specially configured numerical data and theassociated code representations thereof derived respectively from theembossures NC and CR. The numbers NC and the code representations CR areconfigured and designed to be easily sensed or read as by photoelectricor magnetic-responsive equipment. Thus, code representations as CR forimprinting are primarily of advantage in connection with automatedaccounting systems wherein duplicate charge slips, tabulating cards orthe like imprinted therewith are sensed, sorted and collated inaccordance with the code data thus imprinted thereon.

As shown in FIG. 2, each Arabic numeral NC has one or more code barsassigned thereto, and these code bars are in accurately orientedpositions shown by parenthetical numbers. There are five possiblepositions for the code bars, and hence the code is a five-bit code. Thenumeral 1 has two code bars in positions (1) and numeral 2 has two codepositions respectively in positions ('1) and (4); numeral 3 has two codebars in positions (4) and (5) in effect representing a single long bar;and so on, but each numeral does require two bits or bars forrepresentation, a binary code in other words.

Under the present invention, the embossures AC, NC and CR identified inFIG. 2 are capable of being embossed in a machine as 20, which is to saythat the present invention makes it possible not only to emboss a plateas P with ordinary alphabet and number characters AC and ON but alsowith stylized, scannable numbers and associated code representations ofthe numbers. Inasmuch as each stylized number NC is to be accompanied bya code representation CR, each such number and the code representationthereof under the form of the invention here disclosed are embossedsimultaneously in a particular line position of the plate undergoingembossing as will be explained. Such can be in any selected lineposition of course, but for purposes of explanation hereinafter it willbe assumed that this will be the first embossing line position of thecarriage which supports the plate being embossed. Consequently, normalalphabetical and number data such as a name, street address or the likewill appear in remaining line positions on the plate P, and in thisconnection it should be pointed out that ordinary sized and configurednumbers ON can be provided in the areas where the alphabet data are toappear.

Referring momentarily to FIG. 11, it will be noted that the first lineposition where the stylized numerical type characters and the code barsare to appear on a plate as P represents a relatively wide area on theplate whereas the alphabetical type occupy a much smaller line area. Itwill be appreciated that FIGS. 2 and 1-1 are merely exemplary ofrelationships, which is to say that the number of lines of embossedalphabetical characters will depend upon the intended purpose of theplate as P. In other words, while a name only has been illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 11, other lines may be allocated to additional data such asa house number and street identification.

The blank plates that are to be embossed in the machine 20 are stored ina supply magazine SM, FIG. 1, and these blank plates are advanced to anembossing station ES where the plate is positioned in the jaws of acarriage incidental to having the embossed data formed thereon in amanner to be explained in detail hereinafter.

Inasmuch as the plates P may be of a white plastic, it is advantageousunder some circumstances to face the raised surfaces of the typecharacters with a distinct color. This can be accomplished afterembossing has been completed by advancing each embossed plate to atipping station TP, FIG. 1, where a film bearing olfsettable pigmentmaterial is pressed by a heated platen against the upper faces of theembossed type characters to cause distinctive coloring material to beoffset thereto. This completes the formation of a plate as P, and eachplate thus completed is advanced into a collecting tray TR at acollecting station CS.

Operation of the machine 20 is automatically controlled by a punchedtape T, FIG. 1, which bears punched hole data instructions for automaticplate feed and positioning; plate loading and release; character andline space movement of the carriage, and so on in accordance with thedisclosure in United States Patent No. 2,533,366. Thus, the tape T isread at a reader unit RU, FIG. 1, and bears all the instructions neededfor fully automatic operation including the feed of the tape itself andthe operation of key bars as will be hereinafter mentioned. Inasmuch assuch automatic operations are fully disclosed in the above-identifiedpatent, and constitute no part of the present invention, such disclosureneed not be repeated herein.

Thus, the present invention is primarily concerned with the constructionof an embossing machine enabling stylized numerical type characters andassociated code representations thereof to be embossed, and inparticular under circumstances where assurance is bad that an alphabetcharacter will not be inadvertently embossed during the embossing of thestylized numerical type characters and their code representations, andconversely. This assures that the codes will appear on the embossedplate only where they should, and assures that the alphabet charactersand ordinary numbers ON appear on the embossed plate only where theyshould. As a consequence, accurate imprints and accurate scanning areassured. The embossing machine 20 includes atop hood 25, FIG. 1, inwhich is housed a rotatable punch and die head member 26, FIGS. 6, 8 and9, including a lower circular punch section 27 and an upper circular diesection 28. These are rotated in a manner to be described hereinafter,and located about the periphery thereof are related punch and die setswhich include ordinary alphabet and number punches 27A, FIG. 8, andrelated dies 28A. The alphabet punch and die sets are relatively smallin size in comparison to the stylized numerical and code punch and dieslugs to be described hereinafter, and are arranged in relatively narrowslots as 288, FIG. 6, arranged about the periphery of the member 26.Each punch and die element as 27A and 28A is movable to an actuatedposition in the related slot as 288 to effect an embossure, but isnormally maintained in a retracted idle or inelfective position byspring-biased plungers 30, FIG. 8. Such embossing movement occurs onlywhen the punch and die shuttle mechanisms as 31, FIG. 1, are interposedas will be mentioned hereinafter.

The punches and dies that are used to emboss simultaneously thenumerical characters and their code bar representations are identifiedat 27B and 288 in FIG. 8, and a typical form is shown in detail in FIGS.3A and 3B for the numeral 8. These punch and die slugs are quite largein comparison to those allocated to the alphabet characters as will beapparent from FIG. 8. Thus, the slugs 27B are not only configured torepresent stylized, special form numerals as 8, FIGS. 3A and 3B, butalso the two single form pips or bars that are to afford the coderepresentations thereof. In order to maintain symmetry and balancedinertia, the numerical and code punch and die slugs are of the same sizeand hence must be sufficiently large not only to carry the largestylized numerals but also to afford sufficient space to account for thefive possible locations of-.the single element code pips or bars CR andCR" as will be evident from FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B. Whether there is but asingle pip (relief and intaglio in the punch and die) .or several,depending upon the code fort-he related numeral, each is elongated andcentered on the center line of the stylized numeral as will be evidentin FIGS. 3A and 3B.

In. view of the foregoing, thefpunch and diesections of the punch anddie head. are provided with' relatively large slots 'asJZSS-I, FIG. 6,spaced substantially uniformly about thecircumference thereof, and slugs27B and 28B are .retained in'position therein by spring-biased plun-gers32, .FIG. 8, so as'to be normally held'retracted in. ineffective or'non-embossingposition. Embossing movement .is imparted to theslugs 27B.and 28B inthe samelmanner as above described in connection with thealphabet or ordinary slugs 27A and 28A.

During operation of the machine, the head member 26 iscontinuouslyrotating, and such motion emanates from a rotatable shaft'40. A collar 41 is pinned to the shaft 49, as will be evident in FIG.7, and a vertically shiftable clutch sleeve 42, constituting part of theshift mechanism to be referred to hereinafter, is splined to' thecollar41 so as to be rotated therewith; A"co1lar-45 is secured in a fixedposition to the punch and die head 26, and this collar is provided withtooth projections 4ST which normally are disposed deeply in cammingrecesses 42R in the shift sleeve 42 to impart the drive to the rotatablepunch and die head 26. In FIG. 8, however, the shift sleeve 42 is shownin its dropped or shift-producing position for reasons hereinafter to beexplained, and such position is relatedto the actuated or energizedstate of a solenoid to be described.-

The foregoing construction of the punch and die head is disclosed inPatent No. 2,115,456, and as further explained in that patent, a ring ofstops 50, FIG. 8 hereof, is arranged in a disc 50R well below the punchand die head 26. These stops are accurately oriented with respect tothepunch and die slugs 27A-28A and 27B-28B and are arranged to be actuatedby selected key bars 51 such that when a particular key at the keyboardof the machine is actuated manually or as the result of punched tapecontrol, the related key bar is lifted as viewed in FIG. 8 raising theassociated stop 50 to dispose the stop St in the path of a stop arm 54carried on a'lower extension 40E of shaft 40. Thus, the stops 50 are sorelated to the key bars 51 as to occupy positions in the ring SilRcorresponding precisely to a punchand die slug that afford characterscorresponding to the key that was actuated, and when a key-is operated,the-particular punch andd ie set will be located accurately atthe'embossing station ES, FIG. 8, in position to effect a correspondingembossure.

Such embossing is eifected by imparting actuating forces to a'punch anddie assembly that has been located at the embossing station, and suchforces are established by respective punch plungers as 55 and die'plungers as 56 that are actuated only when the shuttle mechanismsas'31, FIG. 1, are interposed between the 'plungers and the. plungeroperating oranvil mechanism as described in aforesaid Patent No.2,115,456.

After an embossure has been effected, the previously actuated punch anddie set is restored back to ineffective position upon return orrestoration of the plungers 55 and E56 by stripper fingers 57 and 58thereon which have projecting hooks or lugs at 57L engageable withcomplemental projections as 60 formed not onlyon the stylized punchanddie slugs 27B2SB but also on the ordinary sized slugs as shown .inFIG. 8. Single projectionsas 60 are sufiicient to enable properstripping'of the normal sized alphabet slug to be effected, but in viewof the relatively large size of the punch and die code slugs, which aretwice the width of the ordinary alphabet and number slugs, these areprovided with additional projections' 61 RIG; 5, and in FIG. 4 is shownthe dispositionand allocation of stopbars 59'. The space in the punchand die head is blanked at BX, FIG..6, .on'eithcr'side ofa' nus metaland code slug; which is to say that the positions BX are not occupied bypunch or die elements. However, theslots 2884 are centered on the centerline of'the equivalent of aslot 288, or in' otherwords each slot 283-1occupies in effect the equivalent of two slots 28S. Noting that thestops 5.; are related to the centers of the slots 238, means areaffordedunder the present invention to assure th'atnone but stylized numeral andcode embos-t sures will be embossed on the plate P when it is in acorresponding numeral and code embossable line positionat the embossingstation ES, FIG. 8, and to assure that none butalphabet characters willbe embossed when the plate is intan alphabet .ernbossable line position.This entails an explanation, first, of the operation of the shift sleeveand secondly a consideration of movement ofthercar riage FiGS; 11 and12, which jaws 66 for gripping. and. presenting to the embossing stationthe plate P to be embossed Thefoperation of the parts illustrated inFIG. 8 is one wherein the punch .anddie head 26is rotatedby havingtheends of the prongs orteeth 4ST deeply seated in the slots 4251 toenable rotation of the punch and die head to be eifected. duringrotationof the shaft 40. The slots 42R are slanted such that by dropping theshift sleeve 42,

r the punch and die head will be shifted or indexed'one spacecenter-to-center with respect to the slots 288. This effective shiftingof the punch and die head is, under the present invention, allowed tooccur only when the carriage isata line where the alphabeticalcharacters and other normal characters such asa period, and sign) normalsized numerals, andso on are to be embossed separate and apart from thestylized numbers and their code representations. In other. words, thepunch anddie slugs for the stylized numerals and code representationsare restricted to the non-shift positionsin the head member 26, and in'orderto prevent'rnissed or improperxembossuresan'dito. prevent damageto themachine. when stylized numbers and code representations are to beenr-' bossed, the shift mechanism to be further described here-viii-after is disabled from effective operation when the canriageipresents the plate. in its first line position where such specialembossures are to. appear.

On the other hand, when normal embossingis'to occur in a differentpredetermined line on the plate, the shift mechanism is to be renderedoperable to permit the punch and die head to be indexed when requiredsay from an upper case C to the. lower case counterpartor from uppercase T to normal sized numeral 5 as will be evident from FIG. 5; Theshiftsignals will be punched in the tapewhen the machine-is tapecontrolled. The shift positions are identified at SH in FIG. 5 and in-:'clude the BX or blanked positions. All others are nonshift positions.The stylized numeral positions in FIG. 5 (non-shift) are evident fromthe over-sized numbers shown in FIG. 5. In further explanation, it'willbe noted that some of the stop bars 58 in FIG. 4 are allocated to thetwopossibilities, namely, shift and non-shift. Thus; stop bar 56A isallocated to the ordinary numeral 4 as well as to alphabet character R;the numeral is a shift character, the letter is amen-shift character. Sowith C and c to which stop bar 5013 is allocated.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a shift yoke 70*.is provided, and this yokeincludesa pair of arms 79A and 70B each having a shoe 71st the free endthereof disposed beneaththe enlarged head of theshift'sleeve 42.Thearmstof I the yoke are pivotally connected to the associated shiftsleeve shoes. An arm 71' is affixed to the bight portion of the yoke74), and this arm is secured to a boss 72, FIG. 7, which in turn ispinned to a horizontally extending shift rod 73. The shift rod 73 is inthe nature of a rock shaft and is so arranged in the machine as to beclamped to one end of an operating arm 75, FIG. 9, which xtends at rightangles to the shift rod 73. The arm 75 is pivotally linked at itsopposite end to the upper end of a vertically extendingsolenoid-controlled actuating link 76. Link '76 at its opposite or lowerend is connected to the armature 77 of a solenoid 80. This solenoid anda related solenoid 81, FIG. 9, are located below and at the right-handside of the cover or hood 25 shown in FIG. 1.

The shift rod 73 tends to be biased clockwise as viewed in FIG. 9(counter-clockwise as viewed in FIG. 8) by a relatively strong returnspring 85 which is so tensioned on arm 75 as to apply a relativelystrong upward holding force to arm 75, and it will be realized that thearmature of solenoid 80 acts in opposition to the return spring whensolenoid 8G is energized. Thus, the spring 85 tends to urge the shiftyoke 70 upwardly to its normal position whercat the shift sleeve 4'2 isheld upwardly with the teeth 4ST seated deeply in the recesses 42R, andthis characterizes the normal or non-shift state of the punch and diehead. This normal condition is to prevail during embossing of stylizednumerals and associated code bars.

When the shift mechanism is conditioned to be in an operative statehereinafter described, arm 75 is to be locked in its down position tomaintain any shift that may be originated. This is accomplished by abook 87 at the upper end of a bell crank 88, FIG. 9, which is pivoted at89 on a pin supported by the bracket 90 which in turn supports thesolenoids 80 and 81 in the machine. The righthand leg of the bell crank88 as viewed in FIG. 9 is connected by a freely pivotal link 92 to thearmature 93 of solenoid 31.

A pin 75?, FIG. 9, is atlixed to the inner face of arm 75 and inposition to he latched or held by hook 87 on the bell crank 03. Thus,when solenoid 89 is unenergized, pin 75P is disposed above hook 87. Theadjacent surface of the hook 87 is slanted or cammed to enable the pin75? to move freely downward past the hook 87, causing bell crank 88 toshift, in the event that solenoid 80 is energized to cause arm 75 to berocked counterclockwise as viewed in H6. 9. When the pin 75P passesunder the hook 87, the bell crank 8t} snaps back into place in latchingrelation over the pin 75]? under the influence of its return spring 89,thereby latching arm '75 in the down position shown in FIG. 9. This ofcourse is manifest in the shift sleeve 42 being allowed to dropsubstantially to the position shown in FIG. 8 causing the punch and diehead 26 to be indexed through a shift space. If a shift is called for inan embossing cycle, the shift is effected just prior to the embossingoperation.

On the other hand, if solenoid 31 is energized, then the bell crank 88is shifted to its ineffective position shown by dotted lines in FIG. 9whereat the hook 87 is out of the path of the pin 751. If solenoid 80should be energized at the same time, and it should be noted that thisis a momentary energizing condition in actual operation, pin 75F will ineffect skip hook 87, whereafter the return spring 85 takes over therebycanceling out any shift of the punch and die head.

Under and in accordance with the present invention, the shift mechanismthus described is to be placed in an effective or operable state onlywhen normal sized alphabet, numerical and related characters are beingembossed, since it is at this time that it may be necessary to impart aconventional shift to the punch and die head as may be required by thepunched hole data carried by the tape which controls the machine. Thus,if the data being embossed in the alphabet area of the plate P includecharacters such as a normal sized and shaped numeral 5, or a lower casec, which are shift characters, the control tape will be punched todesignate energization of solenoid to produce the corresponding shift inthe punch and die head, and under these circumstances solenoid S1 is tobe allowed to remain deenergized so that latch 87 can perform itsessential holding function to maintain and assure the shift position ofthe punch and die head. However, in order to prevent this condition fromarising at the time when the stylized numerals and associated codes arebeing embossed solenoid 8-1 is placed under control of the carriage suchthat when the carriage is in position to present to the embossingstation the line on the plate that is to be codenumeral embossed,solenoid 81 is held continuously energized thereby rendering the shiftmechanism ineffective continuously so long as the carriage is in thisposition.

In view of the foregoing, and referring to FIG. 11, it will be notedthat the carriage 65 is equipped with a conventional line spacing rack90 having line spacing teeth 9ST meshed with a line space control pinion92. This is a known arrangement in the art and is described in severalpatents assigned to the present assignee, and it should be noted thatoperation of the pinion 92, in automatic operation of the machine, isunder control of electric circuitry that in turn is responsive topunched hole data in the tape T used for such automatic control over themachine. Under the present invention, however, shaft 93 which carriesthe pinion 92 is provided with a cam element 94 adapted to engage theswitch finger 96 of a control switch 100. This switch 106 is a doublepole switch. The relationship is such that when the pinion 92 haspositioned the carriage rack 90 to present the first embossing line ofthe plate P to the embossing station to enable the stylized numerals andassociated code pips to be simultaneously embossed, cam 94 presses theswitch finger 96 to the position illustrated in FIG. 11, and thiscompletes a circuit to solenoid 81 as will hereinafter be described. Inthis manner, the shift mechanism is rendered inoperable when the plate Pis in such an embossing line position. It will be appreciated that anyline position of the plate P can have this characteristic feature underand in accordance with the present invention.

Movement of the carriage 65 to the left as viewed in FIG. 11characterizes movement of the plate being embossed from its first lineor code-numeral embossing position to its second position where thenormal sized and conventional characters are to be embossed thereon.This a relatively large movement as will be evident from the legends inFIG. 11 and is characterized by approximately an 80 turn of the pinion92 and its shaft 93. This of course displaces the cam 94 from contactwith switch finger which thereupon opens the poles that maintain thesolenoid 81 energized. Consequently, solenoid 81 is returned to ad-e-energized state where the bell crank 88 will be effective as a lockto maintain any shift condition called for by the punched tape andmanifest in energization of solenoid 89. At the same time, when switchfinger 9:; moves to its dotted line position illustrated in FIG. 11,another set of poles of switch are thereupon closed to complete acircuit to a solenoid 105, FIG. 10, which disables those key bars 5dwhich might, because of an error in encoding the control tape T, beoperated to select a punch and die having a stylized numeral andassociated code. This should not be permitted to occur when the platebeing embossed is in its second or normal alphabet and numeral position,not only because of character space requirements as will hereinafter beevident, but also because such would result in a false plate.

Thus, referring to FfG. 10, it will be noted that each key bar 51 ispivotally connected to a downwardly extending connecting link 106, andthe lower end of the connecting link is formed with a slot 3.67 whichextends inwardly from one edge of the link 106; A transmitting lever 11%is alforded to actuate each key bar link as 166, and one end of thislever is pivoted on a supporting shaft 112. The transmitting leverextends from the shaft 112 in the direction of the link i 36, and.apin-1'15 at the free end of the transmitting lever is normally disposedat'the closed end of the slot 197.

As described in Patent No. 2,533,366prockers (12% hereof) are adapted tobe rocked clockwise as-viewed in FIG. hereof in response to thedatacarriediby the punched control tape, such rocking motionbeing induced bya code bar (not shown) positionedduring sensing of the punched holed-atainthe-control tape; When so rocked, each.:rocker 120 presses ionthe. toe'121T of a realted'ihookwlever 120which, it should be noted, isalso pivotally-related to the shaftlIiZ. Each hook lever 120 carries apin 122 which is'disposed in a slot123'in the transmitting lever 116,such that'in response to actuation of the rocker 121} the transmittinglink 110 is pivoted clockwise as'viewed in FIG. 10, and therefore motionis transmitted by pin 115 to theiconnecting lever lllfi which in turnactuates the key bar '51stoinstituteselectionof the corresponding punchandidiez'set.

Under the present invention, those ofthettcn connectinglinks 166 (llthrough'9) that-are associated with the key bars 51. which select thecode and numeral punch and die slugs are interconnected by a bail bar13tiwhich in turn'is connected to the armature 1310f the solenoid 165.This bail bar has vportions disposed in slots 132 that are common to theheads'lMH of the ten links .ltlfiithat are assigned to. the keyvbars 51'of the code and numeral punch. and die slugs. Therefore, whentheiarmataure 131 is pulled to the right as viewed in- FIG. 10 uponenergization' of solenoid 1%, the bail bar'ftiti) is effective'to rock:this group of ten connecting links 1%: simultaneously to present anupwardly opening slot 133 in the head 1061-1 of each such link to thepin 135 of the: associated transmitting ,lever 110; Therefore, it suchtransmitting lever 110- should be operated erroneously at a time whenthe plate P' is in its second line embossing position, the result willbe idle motion manifest in the related pin 115 moving idly down in theslot 133, and consequently the key bar'51 for'such erroneous conditionwill not be actuated.

It will be recognized particularly from FIGS. 2 and 11 that thereis agreat deal more space between the embossed and: coded numerals NC on theone hand, and the: conventional embossed data AC and ON on the otherhand. Thus, there is to be a different degree of character'spacingbetween the large embossures when the plate being embossed is in itsfirst line position in comparison tocharacter spacing between thesmaller embossures when the plate is in its second line embossingposition. Referring to FIG. 12; this is made possibleby having resortto'a pair of character spacing racks l itl l and 144L112 which controlcharacter spacing of the carriage 65. Eachrack is individuallyengageable by the usual escapement pawl 142that is eifective betweensuccessive embossures to permit the carriage to undergo characterspacing movement in a. manner well known in the art. When the carriage65 'is in what corresponds to the first lineembossing position of theplate P, the 'escapement pawl is disposed in association with thecharacter spacingtrack Me r which'has widely spaced teethcorrespondingto the relatively wide jumps required when indexing thecarriage left to'rig'ht during theicourse of successive formations ofthe stylized numerals and associated code bars.

The racks 1494i and 1494 are controlled by a'springbiased plunger 145. Abiasing coil spring 146 surrounds the :plunger 1 145 :and this assemblyis disposed inra guide opening'147S formed in afixed'member 147 whichaffords part of the guide structure for the carriage65;

The arrangement for the spring is'su'chthzit the spr ing 146 applies aleftwardly'directe'd force, as viewed in-FlG.

12, against a washer and spacer 148 at the left hand end of the plunger145. This force is resisted by the right hand leg of an invertedU-shaped bracket 150- which em braces the adjacent end of plunger 145.The opposite or left hand leg 1510f this bracket bears against'the headof a spring-biased plunger 152 having aconcentric'sp'ri'ng 153.PlungerlSZ'is supported by an arm 154 depending from and secured tothe'underside of the carriage 65. Spring'153 in elfect loads orcompresses spring 146i When the carriage 65"moves from its first tosecond position as above described, plunger 15Z is-moved'away frombracket 151 thus permitting spring 1'46 'to'take over, and plunger 145is allowed'to shiftto the left as viewedin l2"until"rack -14i 1 bearsagainst the solid surface immediately adjacentthereto. Asa-corn sequenceofthis, the character-spacing 'rack"14tl2, having'the closely spacedteeth, becomes associated with the character-spacing escapernent pawl142;

The control circuit for solenoids 8t], 81- and ltl5 'is' shown in FIG.13. 'With cam 94 in the first position of the carriage (stylized numeraland code embossing) indicated at 94 1 in FIG. 13, switch finger'96-ispositioned to'close contactsEl-and E2; Solenoid-81 is connected by awire E4 to a wire ESconnected to ground. Solenoid sl is connectedto-contact E2 -bya wire E6; and the conducting element of switch arm 96carries contact and is connected to a Wire E8 1 which in turn isconnected'to wire Eli? in the'positive side of the circuit.Consequently, under this condition,'- solenoid 81' isheld de-energizedto disable the shift latch, and no shift condition will bemaintainedeven though solenoid 84) should be energized.

The conductive element of switch arm 96- includesa contact E12 adaptedto engage a relatedcontact E13 when cam 94 moves to its second, dottedline position 94-2 shown in FIG. 13. This occurs when shaft 93 turnsduring movement of carriage 65 to its second position; Contact E13 isconnected by a wire E1510 one side of solenoid 195,- and the other sideof solenoid 105 is connected by a wire E16 to wire E5. Therefore, inthesec- 0nd position of the carriage, solenoid 81 is de-energized toenable the shift latch to be effective, and solenoid 105 is energized toprevent any effective action of the punch and die elements 273-233. Theshift solenoid may now be effective to produce a shift of the punch andthe head. Thus,.solenoid as is-adapted to be energized pro videdswitches E20 and E21 in its circuit'are closed'i Switch E'Zil is acam-operated timing switch and switch B21 is a switch responsive to thesensing of punched hole data in the tape T calling for a shift characterto be embossed.

In order to release the holding latch 87 aftera shift character has beenembossed, solenoid 81 should be energized, and aseparate circuit forthis'eifect is provided. Thus, wires E25 and E26 are connected to andshunted between wires E6 and E15, and a timing switch B38 is interposedtherein so that solenoid 81. will beener gized late in a shift embossingcycle so as to release latch It will be appreciated that while thepresent machine has been described from the standpoint of automatic tapecontrol operation, a manual operation can be effected as 1 well, inwhich event the key bars instead 'of being-tape controlled will bemechanically controlled and a shift key canbe provided to effect closureof switch E21."

It will be seen from the foregoing' that'the present in vention enablesprinting plates ofthe kind described to be embossed to hcar stjviizednumerals and code representations thereof in addition to normal alphabetand nuimerical characters. Accidental 1 embossing ofstyli'zed numeralsand code-representations is prevented by-disabling the associated keybarswhen the carriage islocated to present the plate being embossed inthe line position Whereat the normal or standardch'aracters are tobeembossed, and I at 'this' time the shift mechanismiiis :con'ditioned tobe in an effective state. On the other hand, when the carriage is in alocation Where the plate is to be embossed with stylized numerals andcode representations thereof, the shift mechanism is rendered inoperableor ineffective, and this assures that the punch and die head will not beindexed through a shift movement at the time when stylized numerals andcode representations are being embossed. Advantageously, each stylizednumeral and related code representation is provided in relief andintaglio form on respective one-piece punch and die slugs, and thecorresponding configura ions are centered with respect to one anotherand with respect to the particular slug involved.

Hence, while I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment ofmy invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variationand modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to theprecise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changesand alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an embossing machine wherein selectable punch and die sets arearranged at assigned positions in a rotatable punch and die member, andwherein an embossable plate or the like is to be presented to a selectedpunch and die set in embossing position by a carriage adapted to undergoline spacing movements: first punch and die sets allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of numeral characters and the simultaneousembossing of associated code representations thereof, said first punchand die sets having certain assigned positions in said member, otherpunch and die sets occupying other assigned positions in said member andbeing allocated to and configured for the embossing of other characters,means to enable selected ones of said punch and die sets to be operativeon said plate in an embossing operation, shift mechanism for shiftingsaid member through a predetermined punch and die indexing movementprior to effecting an embossure, means settable by and at apredetermined line position of said carriage, where said numeralcharacters and code representations are to be embossed, to preventeffective operation of said shift mechanism and being disabled when saidcarriage is at another line position where said other characters are tobe embossed, and means to prevent effective operation of thenumeral-andcode punch and die sets when said carriage is in such anotherline position.

2. In an embossing machine wherein selectable punch and die sets arearranged at assigned positions in a punch and die member, and wherein anembossable plate or the like is to be presented to a selected punch anddie set in embossing position by a carriage adapted to undergo linespacing movements: first punch and die sets allocated to and configuredfor the embossing of numeral characters and the embossing of associatedcode representations theerof, said first punch and die sets havingcertain as signed positions in said member, other punch and die setsoccupying other assigned positions in said member and being allocated toand configured for the embossing of other characters, means to enableselected Ones of said punch and die sets to be operative on said platein an embossing operation, shift mechanism for shifting said memberthrough a predetermined punch and die indexing movement prior toeffecting an embossure, and means settable by and at a predeterminedline position of said carriage, where said numeral characters and coderepresentations are to be embossed, to prevent effective operation ofsaid shift mechanism and being disabled when said carriage is at anotherline position where said other characters are to be embossed.

3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein the first punch and die setsare one-piece elements each bearing a numeral and the coderepresentation thereof.

4. In an embossing machine wherein a punch and the head member isprovided with mounting positions spaced thereabout for receiving punchand die sets, and wherein an embossable plate or the like is to begripped in a line spaceable carriage to be presented to a selected punchand die set in embossing position: punch and die sets spaced about saidmember in certain of said positions thereof and allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of numeral characters and the embossing ofassociated code representations thereof, other punch and die sets spacedabout said member in other positions thereof and allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of other characters, means to enableselected ones of said punch and die sets to be operative on said platein an embossing operation, shift mechanism adapted when in the conditionof the operative state to enable said member to be effectively indexedfrom one such position to another prior to the effecting of anembossure, and means to condition the shift mechanism for operative andinoperative states and being under control of said carriage when in aline position where numerals and code representations thereof are to beembossed so as to thereupon place the shift mechanism in one of saidstates and adapted to place the shift mechanism in the other of saidstates when the carriage is in another line position.

5. In an embossing machine wherein a punch and die head member isprovided with mounting positions spaced thereabout for receiving punchand die sets, and wherein an embossable plate or the like is to begripped in a line spaceable carriage to be presented to a selected punchand die set in embossing position: punch and die sets spaced about saidmember in certain of said positions thereof and allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of numeral characters and the embossing ofassociated code representations thereof, other punch and die sets spacedabout said member in other positions thereof and allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of other characters, means to enableselected ones of said punch and die sets to be operative on said platein an embossing operation, and means controlled by said carriage when ina line position where numerals and code representations thereof are notto be embossed to prevent effective operation of the punch and die setsallocated to said numerals and the code representations thereof.

6. In an embossing machine wherein a punch and die head member isprovided with mounting positions spaced thereabout for receiving punchand die sets, and wherein an embossable plate or the like is to begripped in a line spaceable carriage to be presented to a selected punchand die set in embossing position: punch and die sets spaced about saidmember in certain of said positions thereof and allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of numeral characters and the embossing ofassociated code representations thereof, other punch and die sets spacedabout said member in other positions thereof and allocated to andconfigured for the embossing of other characters, means to enableselected ones of said punch and die sets to be operative on said platein an embossing operation, shift mechanism adapted when in the conditionof an operative state to enable said member to be effectively indexedfrom one such position to the immediately next position prior to theeffecting of an embossure, means to condition the shift mechanism foroperative and inoperative states and being under control of saidcarriage when in a line position where numerals and code representationsthereof are to be embossed so as to thereupon place the shift mechanismin one of said states and adapted to place the shift mechanism in theother of said states when the carriage is in another line position, andmeans under control of said carriage in its other line position toprevent effective operation of the numeral-and-code punch and die sets.

7. An embossing machine wherein numerals are to be embossed along withcode representations thereof, and comprising a punch and die memberhaving spaced punch and die sets including numeral-and-code punch anddie sets each bearing a numeral and a code representation thereof, saidcode representations each including at least one single element formspaced from and centered with respect to the longitudinal axis of theassociated numeral, other punch and die sets for embossing othercharacters including alphabet characters and distributed among thefirst-named punch and die sets, a carriage adapted to hold and present aplate or the like to be embossed to the punch and die sets in anembossing relation, means to enable said carriage to undergo linespacing movement so that numeral characters and code representationsthereof can be exclusively embossed in a row at a predetermined linelocation on said plate whilst the other characters can be exclusivelyembossed in a row at another line location on said plate, and meansunder control of said carriage to prevent selection of thenumeraland-code punch and die sets when the carriage presents the platein said other line location.

8. A machine according to claim 7 wherein the punch and die member isarranged for shift spacing, shift mechanism for indexing said memberfrom a non-shift to a shift position; said numeral-and-code punch anddie sets being restricted to one of said positions, and means undercontrol of said carriage to render said shift mechanism effective inonly one of said line locations of the carriage.

9. In an embossing machine wherein selectable punch and die sets arearranged at assigned positions in a punch and die member, and wherein anembossable plate or the like is to be presented to a selected punch anddie set in embossing position by a carriage which is adapted to undergoline spacing movement, means to select said punch and die sets foroperation on said plate, shift mechanism for shifting said memberthrough a predetermined punch and die indexing movement prior toeffecting an embossure, and means settable by and at a predeterminedline position of said carriage to prevent effective operation of saidshift mechanism and being disabled when said carriage is at another lineposition.

10. In an embossing machine wherein selectable punch and die sets arearranged at assigned positions in a rotatable punch and die member, andwherein an embossable plate or the like is to be presented to a selectedpunch and die set in embossing position by a carriagewhich is adapted toundergo line spacing movement, certain of said punch and die sets beingin a first group allocated to and configured for the embossing ofnumeral characters and the embossing of associated code representationsthereof, other of said punch and die sets being in another groupinclusive of alphabet characters, means to select said punch and diesets for operation on said plate, shift mechanism for shifting saidmember through a predetermined punch and die indexing movement prior toeffecting an embossure, means settable by and at a predetermined lineposition of said carriage to prevent effective operation of said shiftmechanism and being disabled when said carriage is at another lineposition, and means to prevent effective operation of one group of thepunch and die sets when said carriage is in a predetermined lineposition.

11. In an embossing machine of the kind described wherein a numeral anda code representation thereof are to be embossed, punch and die sets foreffecting such embossure and each such set including a slug bearing anumeral form and a code bar representation thereof, said code bar beingof elongated shape and aligned longitudinally with the longitudinalcenter axis of the numeral counterpart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

